he Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is placing a more than $500 million bet on expanding the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, roughly 100 miles northeast of Dallas.

The Choctaw Nation broke ground April 25 on a project that will add 1,000 hotel rooms to the Choctaw Casino & Resort — bringing the total to more than 1,600 and making it the Oklahoma hotel with the most guest rooms. In addition, plans call for a bigger gaming floor, new pools, a “lazy river” feature, a parking garage, more retail space, additional entertainment options and more restaurants.

The $500 million-plus expansion is set for completion in the spring of 2021. This will be the fourth major upgrade at the resort and casino since the property debuted in 2006.

Oklahoma's Choctaw resort and casino makes big play for business with new 1,000-room tower

The expansion, which will come together in 2 years' time, will make the complex twice the size it is now, with more than 1650 rooms, pools (including a lazy river), entertainment space, and food/beverage spots. The Choctaw will become the largest hotel in OK when the project is complete.

I knew about Winstar but totally forgot about it, certainly didn't connect the dots to it's Choctaw neighbor. I looked at the map and instantly jumped to an imagined string of Lake Texhoma resort casinos and paddle boats. So long Lake Charles, Bossier... Oklahoma is next up.

Supposedly, OkDOT is planning to improve US 69-US 75 in the Calera/Choctaw/south-of-Durant stretch into a more freeway-ish setup where there won't be stop lights at all through Calera. This will also include conversion of the dumb light on the north side of Choctaw where the smoke shops/travel centers are, into a full exit. That should have been done *years* ago. I have a feeling a lot of this wouldn't have been considered if the Choctaw casino-resort weren't there.

tamtagon wrote:so, like, how does Durant compare to Shreveport as far as a destination for North Texas gamblers?

IDK about current numbers comparing the 2 destinations. If you want your choice of 6 casinos, a horse race track, and being able to drink till 6am, then Shreveport is your answer. If you want a shorter drive to get your gamble on, then it's all about Choctaw and Winstar. Supposedly, according to the DMN article, TX is by far the largest market that Choctaw draws from. Funny how each will have their own "biggest" claim-to-fame: Winstar being the biggest casino, Choctaw being OK's biggest hotel.

I suggest moderators move the US & World Urban Development thread on this over here. According to the census bureau, Durant is one of seven micropolitan areas that are part of DFW's combined statistical area. If "exurban" is equivalent to the census bureau's 15% threshold of commute interchange between counties, then Durant is already an exurb.

I think this resort already has around 750 rooms, so they're not really adding a thousand but it makes for good news copy. At any rate, when the addition is complete, DFW will be the closest airport to five of the seven largest hotels in the Southwest (Arizona and Utah on over to the Mississippi River). Here are the top dozen: